Sheridan Mission 01: "Better Off Forgotten"

Stardate 20309.22 Captain Himbog, USS Sheridan, recording.

After a meeting with my Fleet Commander, I have been transferred from the USS Titan CL-2007 to take command of a freshly commissioned vessel – USS Sheridan DD-4086. My crew were waiting in the construction yards on Starbase Charlie and when I met with the construction chief, I found him to be a very knowledgeable man concerning Starships, the Sheridan in particular. Lieutenant Matthew Lewis was then assigned as my first officer and very shortly after we were taking the ship on a test run.

As we left the Starbase for a general cruise, a security officer on the bridge discovered a high frequency disturbance in my quarters. I went to investigate only to find that a device I had been carrying around from my childhood had been activated by something and a message had been downloaded onto a Padd from it. After decoding the message and calling for two of my friends, Minto and Ensign Ishmi, we found out that my home planet of Ferenginar had been attacked by a group of pirates. We then set out towards Ferenginar to assist. The cruise around the sol system had turned into a mission and, with only a minimal crew compliment, it would prove quite dangerous.

On arrival in the Ferengi system, we were greeted by the remains of a battle scene between the Ferengi and the pirate group. All that remained was a field of debris and a crippled marauder. One team of medics and engineers were immediately sent onto the marauder whilst the Sheridan landed on the planet. It was found that a pirate vessel had spun out of control and crash landed in the village of Ped, causing mass destruction and many deaths. The remaining Sheridan crew left the ship to help the many injured.

A cave was discovered a few kilometres west of Ped and as I entered the cave to assist in any way I could, I found two Ferengi that I hadn’t expected to see – my parents. We had never been close since I had decided to join Star Fleet and after talking with them, I learned that nothing had changed. They had always wanted me to join my father’s trade business but my dreams took me elsewhere. A rather distressing conversation ended in tears as they tried to convince me to stay with them on Ferenginar. It turns out that when a dream becomes an ambition there’s not a lot you can do to change it.

Meanwhile, a security team had been sent off to the village to investigate a rumoured raid of the village ruins by two surviving pirates. When they arrived on site, the pirates were found and chased back to the marauder that had been fixed enough to land back on the planet. One of the pirates made it on board and managed to get the battered ship to reach the atmosphere, however the shields didn’t hold and in a giant fireworks display the ship exploded into thousands of pieces.

The other pirate was detained on board the Sheridan until the security team were happy that their group wouldn’t bother the Ferengi again and that they would pose no threat to the Federation.

After treating many Ferengi in the cave, all crew returned to the Sheridan and left the planet leaving the villagers with enough supplies to rebuild their houses and some surrounding buildings.

The mission seemed to have ended in success. However, once we had left the planet I was called to sickbay. Matthew Lewis, my first officer, had been injured whilst fixing the marauder and a huge chunk of his shoulder had been taken out by a large piece of metal. He was in a bad state, and had lost so much blood the medics didn’t know if they could help him anymore. I spoke with him for a few minutes and then, slowly, his hand dropped from his chest to the floor. His body was left lifeless and I was left without a first officer, and a friend.

On return to Starbase Alpha, I had him placed in the ship’s morgue. It was a bitter reality, but I felt that his final resting place should be the Sheridan. After all, his last words thanked me for the opportunity to serve on a Starship. He will be dearly missed but will always remain with the Sheridan wherever our journeys may take us